Coldwater Creek has acquired Soft Surroundings’ direct-to-consumer business, which will continue online (at softsurroundings.com). The sale was facilitated by global asset experts Gordon Brothers.
The women’s apparel and lifestyle brand filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September and said it would focus on its e-commerce business going forward. In November, Soft Surroundings began chain-wide closing sales at its 43 stores.
Gordon Brothers had provided Soft Surroundings a $17M term loan to pursue a sale process and $18M in debtor-in-possession financing for its plan of reorganisation. The firm previously supported the completion of Soft Surroundings’ inventory transition to a Mexican-based third-party logistics warehouse service.
“In pursuing the acquisition of Soft Surroundings’ direct-to-consumer business, we greatly benefitted from Gordon Brothers’ partnership over the last few months, their expertise and all-encompassing, tailor-made solution,” said David Walde, CEO of Coldwater Creek. “They not only provided capital, but the guidance and expertise needed to acquire the business through the company’s bankruptcy proceeding at an accelerated pace, thereby saving jobs, maximizing value, and working with all parties to ultimately change the lens in how we had initially approached the opportunity.”
